THAT Summer: A Secret Quartet Fanfic
by UnknownRyder
Summary: Summer vacation; the quartet are going to have one they'll not forget in a hurry. [DISCLAIMER: All characters (except my OC's; I own those) belong to their respective owners.] (Note to self: Need better summary)
1. Chapter 1: In Paris

**A/N:** **Apologies about any incorrect grammar or punctuation. Or if any characters are OOC, this is my 1st Fanfic. Alternative chapter title suggestions are welcome. Hope you enjoy! And many thanks for checking this out!**

 **Chapter 1:** _ **In Paris...**_

Ice coated the ground and buildings where scorch marks didn't. Red and black discs were embedded in various trees, alongside deep sword-stroke like gashes. Roaring red fires were alight in many of the bushes that dotted the area. And one of the lamp posts in the park was on its side, damaged and rusted way beyond repair. Dirt, mud and grime was spread over everything everywhere. Suddenly a disgustingly muddy, grimey drop rag was tossed onto the park's walkway.

"Aaaaaaaand… Ninja Slice!" came a cry, as a sword came down upon the filthy rag, cutting it to bits. The Ninja, whose sword had chopped the now tattered cloth, stepped back as a small black butterfly rose from the remains of it. Ladybug, one of Paris' beloved heroes, threw her yo-yo at the winged thing. "Time to de-evilize!" she shouted. After she caught it, she opened it up to reveal a now white butterfly. "Bye-bye, little butterfly" she said as it fluttered out and away.

A little while away, a dirty, muddy monster, that was being held down by a floating, glowing kid and a big, red dragon, transformed into a tall young man in a janitorial uniform. He was the one who owned the rag. "Huh?" he said groggily. The two holding him let go, now that the person was back to normal. A guy in a black cat suit (aka Chat Noir) helped him to his feet. "Its okay, everything is fine" said Chat, "You should head on home now." Nodding, the confused teen wandered off. The five heroes gathered together. All of them were very dirty.

The Ninja was almost completely covered in mud and grime. The dragon had an unidentifiable goop lodged between most of its scales. Chat Noir spat mud out of his mouth. "That could've gone a whole lot cleaner" he said. The floating boy, better known as Danny Phantom, nodded then turned intangible, letting all the grime fall though him onto the ground. Ladybug wiped the slime and dust off her face, smiled and threw a red spatula into the air. "Miraculous ladybugs!" she cried out. The spatula broke apart into millions of shiny ladybugs.

They swept around the battleground, putting out the bush fires, restoring the lamppost and trees that were ruined, along with all of the ice, scorch marks and Ninja discs. All the dirt, mud, dust, slime, goop and grime disappeared as well. Everything was back the way it was before the battle had started. Ladybug and Chat Noir fist bumped. "Pound it" they said together.

Then Ladybug's earrings beeped. Time for her to go. "Thanks for your help guys," she said to the other three, "Couldn't of done it without you. I have to go now, see ya!" She whirled her yo-yo at the nearest building and swung away. They watched her go, before Phantom spoke up. "We should get going too." "Good Idea" said the Ninja. The rest agreed, so they all took off in the same direction.

When they came to an alley that was big enough for the dragon to fit into, they all reverted into their civilian forms. "Claws off" said Chat Noir before changing into Adrien Agreste. Holographing flames appeared over the dragon (the American Dragon to be exact) transferring him back to Jake Long. The Ninja removed his mask, revailing Randy Cunningham. And white rings passed over Danny Phantom transforming him into Danny Fenton.

"That was the absolute cheese!" shouted Randy, still hyped from the fight, as they departed from the alley together. Jake turned to him "Calm down, yo" he said. "What we just did is what you do back at home all the time." "I know! That's what makes it so honkin' bruce!" Danny rolled his now blue eyes, "How can you be excited about this" he said, "I seem to recall that you were the one who almost drowned in mud and the one who got the most dirty because of it. So, how can you possibly be happy after all that just happened?" "And I recall that I was the one who d'sanked the dude" Randy shot back.

"Well…" interjected Adrien, "Really that was my lady who did. She came up with the plan, managed to get the rag away from the guy, and got the akuma, as she usually does. All while you were...? What were you doing again?" The others opened their mouths to remind him of how they helped with the akumatized janitor, but Agreste kept on talking. "Right, Jake caught half the park on fire. Which you," he said pointing at Fenton "did not completely put out, plus you drenched everything in mud when you used that ghost scream of yours on the akuma."

"And not to mention, that you _did_ almost drown. And Danny is right, you got the messiest" he finished, looking at Randy, who crossed his arms but said nothing. Danny looked down. "It's not a scream, it's called a ghost- _ly_ _wail_ " he said, under his breath. But Adrien didn't show if he noticed or not. Jake just looked uncomfortable. This was not how they usually beaved after a victory. "Yo, guys, chillax why don't ya" he said. "What's gotten into you Adrien? Usually you don't highlight our mess-ups, and when you do, you do it jokingly, and I'm not hearing any joke."

Danny looked up at that. "Yeah… what's with that?" the halfa asked. Adrien had the grace to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry" he said, "It's just that it was your first fight with an akuma and I think it could've gone better." "Well… I guess I did get pretty dirty" admitted Randy. "Yeah" Jake said, "I should've paid more attention to where I was blowing fire." "and I could have warned you guys to take cover before I let loose" replied Danny, sheepishly. "And I also messed up, you know" said Adrien. Danny smirked, a familiar gleam in his eyes.

They could tell he was about to crack a pun. But before Fenton could say anything, the air got significantly colder and the sky abruptly became darker though there were no clouds in sight. They all looked up, curious at what was happening. It all went downhill from there.

Danny gasped, like his ghost sense was going off, but instead of seeing a wisp of his breath he fell to his knees, shuddering violently. No one said anything. No one could. The others looked at their ghostly friend, shocked at what just happened.

The sudden darkness vanished as quickly as it had come. The terrible feeling that Danny felt passed and he stood up shakily, still unnerved by the malevolent chills that had racked his entire body. Randy moved forward to steady him. "What the juice just happened?" he said finally. "You okay bro?"

"I…" the trembling halfa said, "I-I don't know. I mean it kind of felt like my ghost sense only… far more intense than before."

Jake, Randy and Adrien glanced at each other, clearly worried for their friend. "So," Jake started. "Now wha-?" The ground started to rumble forcefully, cutting off Jake. The teen heroes stumbled. "WHAT THE JUICE!" Randy cried out, louder this time. Then they heard an erie, echoey shriek. They froze, looking at each other, hoping that one of them would know what this was. The scream came again, this time more clamorous.

Randy recovered first. "Its coming from over there" he said, pointing down the street from them. Then they all ducked into a nearby alley. Randy pulled out his mask and slipped it over his head. "Looks like its Ninja o'clock!" he said as the Ninja suit materialized around him. "Dragon up!" Jake shouted, changing into his dragon form. Adrien nodded at them, letting them go on ahead.

Behind him, he heard Danny give his battlecry, "Goin' ghost!" Turning to him he said "Are you sure you'll be able to fight?" Danny looked determined. "I'm fine" he insisted, "I've fought in worse conditions." Then he flew off after Randy and Jake. "Hey, wait for me!" Adrien called to his friend, before transforming himself. "Plagg, claws out!"


	2. Chapter 2: Encountering Questions

**A/N:** **Congrats to ActionTReaction for being the 1st to review the last chapter and the story overall. Now introducing OC's! Enjoy, everyone!**

 **Chapter 2: Encountering Questions**

Not too long after, the four saw the sky darkening again. "What do you think caused Danny to collapse like that?" commented Jake. Adrien, now in costume, shrugged. "Not sure". "But what if it happens again?" Randy asked, "Phantom could be out for the count." "Don't worry about me," Danny said frantically. Then he pointed, "Worry about _that_!"

Just ahead of them there was a black-hooded figure, dark cloak billowing in the nonexistent wind, looming above a small, crying boy. Shadows seemed to swirl around the two figures. As the teen heroes got closer, Danny and Jake, thanks to their enhanced senses, could hear whispered words spoken between the kid and the ominous figure. "Make it go away!" the kid said, eyes shut, sounding scared, "Go away!"

The hooded figure crouched down over the whimpering child. "Don't worry," it said in an otherworldly voice, reaching out and bringing the boy closer, "Everything will be fine." The kid did not physically react to being touched, but it did cry out "Leave me alone!" The figure raised a hand over the boy, an eerily, black, fire-like energy, not too different from Danny's ecto-energy, encased it. "Soon, it will all end" the dark figure said.

"NO!" shouted the four teens simultaneously. The figure looked up and hesitated at the sight of the quartet charging toward it. Phantom, first to arrive, plowed into the cloaked figure, making it let go of the child, which Jake scooped up and flew away with. "You fool!" the figure said, as it disentangled itself from the halfa. It's head was shrouded in hood and shadow so he couldn't see it's face. All Danny saw as he looked into the deep hood, were two glowing, pure silver eyes.

The figure seemed to glare at him, it's annoyance practically radiating out of its being. "You do not know what you're getting into," it hissed, now clearly seething. Raising a hand it generated the weird black energy which now coated it once more. The figure then threw the energy at Phantom, who turned intangible, seeing that he was not fast enough to dodge it.

But instead of the fire like energy passing through him, as something normally would, it made contact with him. He was also launched backwards until he smashed into a wall on the opposite side of the street. After that, the fire energy raced all along his body before it dimmed out and allowed pure black ice to immediately, completely, cover him, leaving no trace of the ghost boy.

XXXXXXXXXX

Chat Noir took a running leap at the figure, swinging at it with his baton. The cloaked figure raised a gloved hand and a blurry, dark _something_ shot out of nowhere and blocked his attack, knocking him back. "Pitiful" the figure sheared, before launching the black fire/energy that it somehow generates at the Ninja, who had thrown a green ball yelling "NINJA ELECTRO-BALL!" whilst.

When the two projectiles collided with each other, the latter broke open from the impact. But for some reason the lightning was redirected back to the Ninja, who tried but failed to dodge, therefore shocking him instead of his target. Randy was immediately rendered unconscious. He toppled to the ground. "Phtt," the figure laughed, "Even more so."

XXXXXXXXXX

Encased in the odd ice, Danny lay there trying to figure out a way to get out of it. He couldn't phase though it. His ecto blasts had zero effect. And since he was frozen still he was not able to move at all, so kicking and punching was out. It would probably lead to sore hands and feet anyway, he realized. He couldn't understand why he couldn't break free.

"Uhhg!" Phantom exclaimed, frustrated by his predicament. "Why can't I get outa here? I've tried everything…" Well not quite _everything_. Danny braced himself, took a deep breath, and unleashed a scream that rivaled the one they heard earlier. Cracks quickly formed in the ice. A second later the black ice exploded apart, scattering shards everywhere. He was free!

Regaining his breath, he noticed he did not revert back to his human form, as he usually would have when he used his Wail. Come to think of it, he hadn't reverted the last few time he had used it. "Maybe I'm getting better at this" he said to himself.

He took to the air, only to be knocked down again by Jake, who had come back from depositing the child in a safe place. The two sprawled onto the ground. "Sorry Danny" Jake said, "I was coming to see if I could get you out of that." He gestured to the place where Danny had been held. "How _did_ you get out?" "Ghostly wail" the halfa shrugged. "But your not…" "I know, right!" He said as they turned back to the fight, arriving in time to see Randy get blasted by his own electro-ball.

XXXXXXXXXX

The cloaked adversary stood between Chat Noir and The Ninja, who were both out cold. Danny and Jake prepared to attack. "I don't have time for this" the figure hissed. It glared (seemingly) at them. "Excuse me" it said it stepped forward, and sunk into its own shadow; vanishing without a trace.

An ecto-ray and a slew of fire blasted the place where the figure was mere seconds ago. "Woah" said Danny, stopping mid-flight. "How'd it do that?" "A better question," responded Jake, "Would be; _where_ 'd it go?" They looked around, but could find no sign of their opponent.

Chat Noir stirred, Ninja was still out of it. Phantom and the Am Drag flew over to them. "Huh?" Chat asked. "What happened?" "Basically, you both, and Danny, got your butts handed to you within the first (and only) exchange" said Jake, "Luckily for me, I was busy carrying the kid a safe distance."

"Where exactly did you put him?" Chat Noir inquired. Jake pointed to his right saying, "Down that way, 'bout 4 or 5 blocks, in an alley next to what I think is a laundromat."

Danny was trying to get Randy to wake, to no avail. "Ninja's still out" he said to the others "Well, let's take him home, we're done here anyway and we all got one more day of school tomorrow." said Jake. " 'Cept I'm already finished for the year" Chat interjected, smirking to himself. "Thanks again for helping earlier. I'll go check on the kid we saved. Bye!" Then he jumped to the rooftops, running along 'till he was out of the trio's sight.

XXXXXXXXXX

Danny and Jake found a hidden spot, de-transformed and unsuited Randy. Danny then pulled out and activated a portable portal device that lead to Norrisville. The whitish-blue coloured vortex opened directly under their feet. They fell, with shouts of surprise, into Randy's room.

Randy, hitting the floor with a 'THUMP', jerked awake as they landed on each other. He saw Jake and Danny on the floor in front of him. "Did we get it?" he asked them, referring to if they had beaten the dark figure. "Nope" Jake said, popping the 'p' and helping Danny to his feet. "Disappeared before we could get close enough."

Randy was disappointed, he threw his hands in the air, "Aww, come on! I almost had him!" "Are you sure it was a guy?" countered Danny. "Wait, you mean I got worsted by a girl?!" a surprised Randy exclaimed. "So, you're admitting that a girl beat you?" the halfa smirked. Cunningham stuttered and huffed, not wanting to say anything but also not wanting to say nothing. The halfa laughed, while Norrisville's Ninja glared at him. Jake interrupted the two, to hopefully stop a fight before it started.

"Hey!" he said, "Regardless of its gender, we should be focusing on what it was." Danny and Randy looked at each other, silently apologizing. Randy then spoke up, "Sooooo… Any thoughts?" "Hmm…" Danny said, scratching the back of his neck, "Could be some sort of ghost? My ghost sense did go off before we ran in to it." "True, and it did have energy rays, kind of like you." "But when the stuff hit me it didn't feel anything like ectoplasm, it felt… I don't know, completely different, but I was intangible and it actually hit me, and knocked me back so… I'm not sure."

Jake, meanwhile, had stopped listening after Danny's comment about his ghost sense, for he trying to remember if… "Earth to Long!" his thoughts were interrupted by Randy waving an arm in his face. "Sorry for spacing out, it's just…" he trailed off in thought, then snapped back, "Just trying to remember if one of G's books had info on this thing." The other two started. "You know what it is?" they asked together.

"No, but one time when I was flipping through one of the many ones on magical creatures, I think there was a hint at creatures like that, though differing somewhat" Jake explained. "I'll give it another go; see if I can find it again." Danny looked to Randy, "Do you think your 'instruction manual' has anything on this?" "Well it's not acting up as it normally would in a situation like this, but I can check tonight" he said.

"And maybe I can try Clockwork, but knowing him, he'll just make me more confused with his vague answers."

"Well then," said the young dragon, "Tomorrow we should meet after school. … In The Clearing?" They all agreed to this, said goodbyes, and traded fist bumps. Danny then went ghost and phased through the roof, headed back to Amity, while Jake exited through the window then transformed and flew off toward New York.


	3. Chapter 2 Part 2: Getting Some Answers?

**A/N:** **Just a little in between ch. for those of you who want some insight on what the Quartet is up to on their own. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 2.5: Getting Some… Answers?**

After getting ready for bed that night Randy consulted the Nomicon, but there was nothing but some odd remark about shadows hiding something other than enemies. Returning to consciousness, Randy sat up, wiping the dribble of drool from his mouth. It was times like this that he wished the Nomicon wasn't so vage… no, that was all the time, actually, but still. How come it couldn't just give him a straight answer? He huffed and got under his covers.

XXXXXXXXXX

Adrian was sitting on his window sill, the streets of Paris at his back, thinking about where the little kid had gone. Earlier, he had found the place that Jake had described, only to find no child and no answers to who or what that figure was. But was most unsettling, was that the laundromat was mostly in ruins. That very afternoon almost just before the fight with the akuma, he and the trio had walked passed that building on there way to Marinette's bakery for some well wanted beignets. Arrien was sure that there was no way anything like it could of happened to it in the few, short hours since then. Upon examining the site more closely, he discovered traces of a thick black residue of sorts, but didn't touch anything. Realizing there was nothing he could do, he had decided to return home. Now as he pondered on the subject he looked at the clock and became aware of how late it was. Rising from his seated position, he went about getting ready for bed, leaving his thought for another time.

XXXXXXXXXX

Jake was furiously searching every one of his grampa's bookshelves for the one he needed, but so far to no avail. Groaning he snapped shut the book he was currently leafing through and put it aside on a pile of other books that he found did not have the info he wanted. There was still about five other volumes on the creatures of the magical community to go through. Pulling down the most promising-looking one, and sitting down on the floor again, he opened the thick, and not to mention heavy, book. He sighed, this one will take a while.

XXXXXXXXXX

Danny couldn't get a hold of Clockwork so instead he called Sam and Tucker, to see what they had to say about it all. After a lengthy explanation on the halfa's part, and seemingly endless questions, it became clear that neither of his best friends had any idea on the subject either. He thanked them anyway and signed off. Then gave vent to a low guttural moan, and plopped face first on to his bed, not bothering to get under the covers. He hoped that he, along with the others, would get answers soon.

XXXXXXXXX

Later in the night Randy gave up trying to sleep. He paced around his room, thinking over the day's events and what Nomicon had said. He briefly considered calling Howard, to see what he thought of this, but knowing Howard, he most likely did not. That and the fact that he hated being woken in the middle of the night. He decided he'd talk it over with the other, and hopefully they had some answers, unlike him. Randy then climbed up to his bed, and got back under the blankets, thoughts still swirling. Eventually he fell back asleep.


End file.
